Serum lipid peroxide levels of patients suffering from thermal injury.

Lipid peroxide levels and activities of various enzymes were examined in sera from five thermally injured patients. In all patients examined, serum lipid peroxide levels were increased in the early post-burn period, and thereafter activities of glutamate oxalacetate transaminase, glutamate pyruvate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase in the sera became elevated in most patients. From these observations, it is considered that increased lipid peroxides in the bloodstream during the early post-burn period would cause damage to various organs, permitting the leakage of the enzymes into the blood. These results support the view that lipid peroxide may be regarded as a 'burn toxin'.